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purchased by the Russian government. Novikoff remained in America where he applied to become a U.S. citizen and registered for the World War I draft. He took up residence in Philadelphia and was hired at St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church where his work is still visible today – almost all of the iconography in the sanctuary is attributed to Novikoff and his students from a nearby art school. We know that Novikoff stayed in Philadelphia until at least 1920 because he shows up in that year’s census, residing in a house occupied by the Martin family. He became a citizen just four years later, but by then, he had a Baltimore address in a neighborhood of row houses. His trail goes cold until 1933, the year he finished the two murals for the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, both of which are still on display in the library’s Central Hall. By 1936 he had finished one of the larger murals at Stone Manor in Fayetteville and would finish another piece a year later. The artist never seemed to stay in one place long, bouncing between Philadelphia, Baltimore and Fayetteville. Novikoff’s World War II draft card for 1942 listed a Baltimore address, but he returned to Philadelphia that same year to touch up his work at the church. Then he was back in Fayetteville where he signed another mural in Stone Manor’s northwest bedroom on the second floor in 1947. The last 20 years of Novikoff’s life are a mystery, but thanks to Social Security records, his date of death and place of burial are now known. He died on June 1, 1967, and is buried in Parsons Cemetery in Salisbury, Md., 100 miles outside of Baltimore. Curiously, there is an Edith Novikoff buried next to him, but no further information was found. And what became of Klavdia and the couple’s four children? Possible records for Klavdia and one of Novikoff’s sons, George, appear in the 1930 census, which show them living in Palo Alto, Calif., she with a new husband. But while the names correspond, the birth dates do not. It is difficult to say for sure whether Klavdia even immigrated to the U.S. Did Novikoff ever see his wife and children again? Or did he remarry, explaining the Edith Novikoff buried next to him? We may never know. We also do not know how Novikoff met the Pittmans or if they were the reason he came to North Carolina. The artist’s life may or may not have turned out the way he imagined it. But his art and imagination have outlived him. Perhaps his dreams were realized in the art he created. It surely must have helped the Pittmans realize theirs.CV Next: The series concludes with a look at the history of the Pittman family and a look ahead at Stone Manor’s future. CityViewNC.com | 61

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